Toward a New Foundationalism: From Carnap to Kripke, and from Husserl to Sallis

145 Pages·2020·3.512 MB·English

by  Bernard Freydberg

Toward a New
Foundationalism

Toward a New
Foundationalism
:
From Carnap to Kripke,
and from Husserl to Sallis
By
Bernard Freydberg
Toward a New Foundationalism:
From Carnap to Kripke, and from Husserl to Sallis

By Bernard Freydberg

This book first published 2021

Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Copyright © 2021 by Bernard Freydberg

All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without
the prior permission of the copyright owner.

ISBN (10): 1-5275-6205-0
ISBN (13): 978-1-5275-6205-9
For Akiko, Forever.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements ................................................................................... ix

Foreword .................................................................................................... x

Prelude ..................................................................................................... xiii
On the Way to Ruling Image: Rethinking two Canonical Platonic Tropes

A Note on the Unusual Tone of this Book ............................................... xvi

Rudolph Carnap .......................................................................................... 1

William James ............................................................................................ 7

Willard van Orman Quine ........................................................................ 14

Donald Davidson ...................................................................................... 28

Saul Kripke ............................................................................................... 34

Richard Rorty ........................................................................................... 41

A Surprising Measure ............................................................................... 48

Edmund Husserl ....................................................................................... 52

Martin Heidegger ...................................................................................... 58

Maurice Merleau-Ponty ............................................................................ 73

Jacques Derrida ........................................................................................ 80

Hans-Georg Gadamer .............................................................................. 93

John Sallis ............................................................................................... 102
viii Table of Contents

Afterword ............................................................................................... 110

Appendix ................................................................................................ 112

Bibliography ........................................................................................... 113

Index ....................................................................................................... 118
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This, my tenth book, differs from my earlier ones in many respects.
It advances a single and heretofore undiscovered thesis that, in my view,
illuminates both sides of the current philosophical divide. It is small
wonder, then, that it has evinced various responses among its early
readers.
I render my deepest and most heartfelt thanks to Kevin Marren,
who not only grasped its peculiar force but also insisted upon the
importance of the book. Thanks also go to Michael Rudar, who provided
excellent comments and formatted this text, and to the anonymous reader
who praised it unequivocally. I also drew inspiration from Marina Marren,
as does everyone else who knows her.
This is my first book for Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Its staff,
especially Adam Rummens whose clear and rapid replies to my queries
made the preparation of this manuscript a pleasure, gave strong support all
the way.
Finally, the contributors to my philosophical vocation are too
numerous to mention, and go back all the way to my undergraduate studies
at the University of Rochester, where the ideas of Lewis White Beck and
Jerome Stolnitz continue to live in me. At Duquesne University, I studied
under John Sallis, who remains the best teacher I have ever known. He has
seeded most of my scholarly work, and has been both gracious and patient
when I have found myself disagreeing with him.
Above all stands my wife, Akiko Kotani, who unites goodness
and truth in shining beauty.